Being creatives on spots airing during the Super Bowl is usually reward enough. But in the case of DDB Chicago’s Steve Bougdanos and Patrick Knoll, their Big Game experience each of the last two years has yielded not only consecutive primetime commercial Emmy nominations, but also coveted slots in USA Today’s day-after poll of most popular Super Sunday ads.
On the Emmy front, DDB Chicago earned a nomination in 2005 for Anheuser-Busch’s “Applause” directed and shot by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA. This year an Emmy nom went to Budweiser’s “Clydesdale American Dream,” again helmed and lensed by Pytka.
The latter spot placed second in the USA Today rundown based on viewer feedback. Just as if not more impressively, the number one entry was Bud Light’s “Secret Fridge” for which Bougdanos and Knoll were creatives. “Fridge” was directed by David McNally of bicoastal Villains.
“To be working at the same time on two pretty much polar opposite spots–the comedy of ‘Secret Fridge’ and the emotional tug at the heartstrings of ‘Clydesdale American Dream’–was an interesting proposition,” noted Knoll who was creative director/copywriter on the Super Bowl fare while Bougdanos was creative director/art director. “It just shows,” continued Knoll, “how DDB builds brands for different clients. Bud Light and Budweiser are distinctly different brands.”
SHOOT ran some questions past Messrs. Bougdanos and Knoll regarding their Super Bowl endeavors and Emmy recognition. They answered the queries as a team.
What makes a spot effective on the Super Bowl and worthy of Emmy recognition?
It should be simple, entertaining and appeal to a mass audience. Whether it’s emotional or humorous, it should generate talk value in a memorable way. Like in a great film, people are expecting the unexpected, a twist or a surprise that they didn’t see coming.
“Clydesdale American Dream” was your second spot with Pytka. How important was the choice of him as a director? Much like our first commercial we shot with Joe–Anheuser-Busch’s thank you to the troops entitled “Applause”–“Clydesdale American Dream” required simple, uncluttered, emotional storytelling and great cinematography–all of which Joe is legendary for.
What are the creative challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the creative community?
Now more than ever, people want to be entertained. There are so many new, exciting mediums to interact with consumers–the Internet, pod casting, guerilla marketing and branded entertainment. But in the end, it still boils down to a great, compelling idea that sells the product in a unique and memorable way. We just finished creating a viral Web site for Sumo Glue called sumosmash.com, which is a lot of fun and creating great buzz. Also, Bud Light’s “Ted Ferguson” character is a great example of combining a variety of media, including television, Internet and personal appearances, to help build the brand. And DDB and our client Office Max just finished a 60-minute television special, called Schooled, which is creating great response, proving great ideas aren’t limited to 30 seconds.
How is the advertising industry poised to handle the challenge? With consumers having so many media choices, we, together with our clients, need to create advertising that generates talk value. We need ideas that embrace the big idea, treat consumers with respect and deliver messages that are entertaining and more importantly, remembered.
